Dieters misled by food names end up eating unhealthy foods

A new research has indicated that dieters are so involved with trying to eat virtuously that they are more likely than non-dieters to choose unhealthy foods that are labelled as healthy.

It seems dieter focus on food names can work to their disadvantage.

`Keeping your weight-loss goal in mind as you scan the lunch menu at a cafe, you are careful to avoid pasta selections and instead order from the list of salad options,` said authors Caglar Irmak (University of South Carolina), Beth Vallen (Loyola University), and Stefanie Rosen Robinson (University of South Carolina).

`But before you congratulate yourself for making a virtuous selection, you might want to consider whether your choice is a salad in name only,` added authors.

These days, restaurant salads can include ingredients that dieters would be likely to avoid (meats, cheeses, breads, and pasta). Potato chips are labeled `veggie chips,` milkshakes are called `smoothies,` and sugary drinks are named `flavored water.`

`Over time, dieters learn to focus on simply avoiding foods that they recognize as forbidden based on product name,` said the authors.